


left my heart in metropolis

by orphan_account



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Multi, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 16:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Jack Kelly and his rag tag gang hide out in abandoned New York City apartments, because kids with abilities and powers like theirs are labeled as 'government property.' No spandex, but corrupt cops and bromances abound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	left my heart in metropolis

**Author's Note:**

> obligatory comment about my terrible summary and hopefully you'll enjoy reading! combo of movie and stage musical.

Mush watched his hand as the flames curled around his wrist, moving up towards his forearm, to his sleeves. He flexed his fingers into a fist and the fire heated up - not that he could feel it. But he knew it. Some of the tendrils shifted into vaguely recognizable shapes: a cat, a tattered shoelace, a.... 

The fire died out quickly and Mush couldn't even feel the heat normally left behind when he 'switched off' his abilities. He let out a sigh and shifted away from the middle of the fire escape. It was so much darker without the light of flames, even if New York City was 'alive at night'. "You couldn't'a just said hello and asked me to move other?" 

Romeo shrugged, sliding down to sit next to his friend, borne of necessity and not choice. "You knows I can't control it like you. I show up, all your powers go off." Romeo slid back against the building and crossed his feet at the ankles. 

"Hm. Jack find a name for that ability of yours yet?" 

Another shrug. "Calls me a power neutralizer. Bet that's some fancy term Medda taught him." 

Mush forced out a laugh and nodded. "You... You should come, ya know? To those meetings with Medda?" 

"Ugh, don't you star-" 

"C'mon, Romeo, she's a school teacher who actually _wants_ to help us. We might have to hide who we are, but that can't stop us from learning!" Mush was leaning away from the wall now, gesturing wildly with his hands as he spoke. 

"And when she sells us out to those government poodles, it'll be worth the knowledge?" Romeo forced a smile. "I'll just learn what I need from you. The rest of the gang can go to your stupid lessons and I'lll play housewife. Someone needs to watch the mansion." He patted the brick wall he was using as back support. The run-down apartment they'd managed to squat in for the time being was more worse-for-the-wear than the last one. The inside was a mess and too crowded. Sometimes Must just needed to get away from it all and Romeo wasn't always welcome. His power was to cancel everybody else's out which left the rest of the group with a sour taste in their mouth. 

It didn't matter that the rest of the world hated their kind and the government collected them like stuffed animals or novelty shot glasses. Their abilities were a part of them and if that meant hiding out together in an abandoned apartment in New York City, well, so be it. The newspapers called them 'Supes' and it slowly became an official term for those superpowered kids born with the gene for it. How the originally-artificial gene adapted to fit the DNA structure was different for each person, resulting in a collage of weird, some powers more dangerous than others. 

"Fine. You won't see Medda with us. Spot won't either. Is it a height thing? Are you midgets intimidated by her height-?" Romeo's fist shot out and lightly made contact with Mush's shoulder. 

"Hey, now. You're powerless around me, 'member?" Romeo said with a smirk. It slid off his face quickly. "... I ain't nuthin' like Spot, alright? Spot's... He's a killer and that ain't me." 

Mush held eye contact with him for a short while after before dropping his eyes to his hands. He loved Romeo's company, but he was really wishing he wasn't around. Mush had been out here thinking, and making shapes in his fire was his way of focusing. He rubbed his hands together needlessly. "We don't know that Spot killed him with no reason." 

Romeo scoffed and shook his head. "Look, I know those cops call on us to do their dirty work behind the chief's back, but killing was never in the agenda. We deliver the evidence and perps to the law's front door and that's it. Sometimes it takes a little bloody-ing up, but Spot was covered in the stuff. And not a scratch on him. And where was his knife? Spot killed somebod-" 

"He didn't have to be working a Job! M-Maybe it was a drug dealer. Or a killer. Or a rapist! I ain't making excuses for him, but Spot's heart's in the right place. He wouldn't..." 

Romeo shook his head again. "Fine. You can have faith in him and Jack can believe it's all fine and dandy, but if Supes like you and me want rights? We don't like shit like this on our reputation." 

Mush swallowed, but didn't say anything. Romeo was right. Spot was a good friend to them all, but if somebody outside of the corrupt policeman they 'worked' for discovered them, well, it wouldn't be too good. Sometimes Mush just wanted to give it all up and turn himself in, but the Supes that went to the feds were never seen again. 

Romeo uncrossed his legs and kicked one ratty sneaker at Mush's own. "Hey. We ain't betraying him. Just disagreeing with his ways. We're all gonna stick together, right?" Mush laughed, smiling finally, and mumbled a quick "right." Romeo nodded at him, pushing himself up. "I'm hittin' the sack now, but don't stay up too late, yeah?" He left without waiting for an answer and Mush lit up his fingers in flame once again. 

\----- 

The next morning was peaceful, just like any other. Henry and Albert shared the beat-up couch, feet in each other's faces. Race was sprawled across the loveseat and Specs was leaning against it, snoring quietly. The rocking chair had a curled up Crutchie in it and the coffee table was covered in Finch's silent form. The others - Spot, Must, Blink, Romeo, and a few of the young kids - were subjected to the floor, huddled up in small blankets. Albert was the first to wake up, slowly shifting out from under the blanket he shared with Henry and standing to make his way to the bathroom. One of the others - Race, he'd been born with hyper-persuasive abilities - had managed to get a plumber in here so the whole water system worked by stealing from the other apartment building. It wasn't exactly ethical, but most of the kids figured they didn't have much choice. When Albert was done, he stepped back into the main room to be greeted by Jack. They smiled at each other and Albert went to reach for the file in Jack's hand. Jack pulled it away and scowled at the younger teenager. 

"I'll tell ya when everyone else wakes up. Now help me get these bagels spread out," Jack whispered, gesturing to the brown paper bag he'd brought with him. 

"Panera?" Albert asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Medda got a raise this month and figured we could use it. Nice surprise right? I told her we didn't need it, b-" 

"Jesus, Kelly, can't you keep your trap shut?! Some of us are tryna get some beauty rest." 

"Dammit, Finch, you're louder than he was!" Specs called, tossing his pillow at previous speaker. 

Groans followed as the rest of the kids slowly got up, most throwing a blanket or kick Finch's way. Most of them filed towards the bathroom, waiting outside the door and chattering angrily. Crutchie was the only one to make his way towards Jack and Albert. Romeo darted off to the fire escape. 

"Bagels!" Crutchie gasped as he navigated his way over to Jack. "Chocolate chip by any chance? Cream cheese?" Albert took the bag from Jack's hands and their leader lifted the smaller boy onto the kitchen table. It was sturdy enough and put them at eye-level. Jack still had the file folder tucked under his arm. 

Albert handed the chocolate chip bagel to Crutchie and started sorting the rest out. Some cinnamon crunch, wheat, blueberry, plain... Medda had been good to them. Eventually most of the boys were jammed into the kitchenette area waiting their turn. Mush stood off to the side a bit, using his fire to toast any bagels that were passed his way. After a while, they all settled back into the main room, tucked under blankets and squished up against the wall to create a circle. Romeo slid back in right before Jack started talking and Blink passed a plate his way. 

"Now, you lazy heads prob'ly already figured out I visited the precinct already this morning," Jack projected, lifting up the folder. "They got a few quick jobs for us to deal with today, but nothing big like last week. We got some big law firm that Officer Nunzio wants us to grab some paperwork from. Drug bust happening at three that they want one of us around for. And an FBI officer just moved in a few blocks away. Quick surveillance jo-" 

"Why would they want us spying on their own kind?" It was Jojo, normally one of the quieter kids. 

"I don't - Is it any loss to us?" 

Smalls, the only girl in their rag-tag gang, slowly lifted her hand. "If they're investigating the police, doesn't that put us at risk?" 

The room erupted in chatter and Jack went back to scanning the paper he'd be given by the officer. It didn't give him any reason to feel nervous, but he trusted the other kids to know if something is up. "Well, then... Hey!" 

The kids kept talking, some of them making gestures as if to activate powers. At least with Romeo around that couldn't happen. "Hey! _LISTEN TO ME._ " 

Jack had their attention once again. "If something is happening with the feds, wouldn't it be worth investigating on our own anyway?" Nods throughout the room. "So do I got any volunteers?" 

Bunsen in the corner lifted his hand. So did Elmer in the opposite corner. Both would be great for the job. The former could teleport short distances and Elmer's shape-shifting (human or animal) meant he could get into places he wouldn't normally be allowed. Jack nodded. "Bunsen, you ain't been out in a while. You take this one. Elm, you can handle the law firm?" The two met eyes across the circle, shrugging, and looking back to Jack. "Good. And the drug bust?" 

No one spoke or raised their hand. It was one of the more dangerous jobs and one of them had been lost to a stray bullet before. No matter how often Jack insisted that was a once in a lifetime thing, no one was up for it. He sighed and did a mental count of who was picked last time. "Blink? You're a healer. You up for it? You're not even enterin' the fray. Just watchin' from the sidel-" 

"I'll do it," the eye-patched kid hissed. He was the one who struggled the most with what they did here. It was against his morals, but they all knew the officers, especially the Delancey brothers, would reveal them to the Supes Division and they'd be gone for good. 

Jack bit his lip. "Thanks. Now, Henry, Spot, and Button? You guys are on partner duty. Keep your eyes out and make sure you've al-" 

"-ways got your buddy's back. Blah blah et cetera. We've heard it before Jack," Spot said, making his way to his feet. "We'll all be back before noon, like always." 

"It is noon," Snyder mumbled. He was always in-touch with time. Came with the territory, Jack guessed. 

They all made their way out the door, the teams with assignments grabbing the proper papers from Jack's folder. Romeo snuck back onto the fire escape with Mush and Snyder. Some of them grabbed the left-over bagels or gathered their stuff for a shower. Jack and Crutchie sat on the table, watching it all unfold. 

"Seriously, Jack." 

"Seriously what?" 

Crutchie rolled his eyes. "We oughta get a group name. We're just Those Kids and we know the newspaper throws around its slurs. Hell knows what the policemen call us. We gotta be something of our own." 

Jack just raised an eyebrow. Crutchie sighed and leaned over to rub at his bad leg. "I already got a coupla options in mind. Supe Chefs? Cheesy, though. Spartans? Because, well, anyway. Newsies? Since we're, eh, you get it. Hack-" 

"Newsies?" 

Crutchie's eyes lit up. "You like it? I know it sounds cutesie, but there were these boys in the 1890s - you can ask Medda about it - who strikes against the newspaper industry, because-" 

"Nah, Crutch, she talked about it to me too. I like it. The New Newsies," Jack said proudly with his hands in front of him. "Just gotta get everyone else on board." 

"C'mon, Jack, we all love you. Your word's basically law." 

Jack scoffed. "Probably because you're all afraid I'm gonna read your mind and reveal your most embarrassing secrets." 

Again, Crutchie rolled his eyes. "We ain't got no secrets here. And anyway, if you wanna read our mind, you gotta be touchin' us right?" Crutchie started to float from the chair. "I'm guessin' if we wanted, most of us could get away." 

Jack stood quickly, grabbing his friend's crutch from where it rested against the table. Crutchie was nearly laying on the ceiling now. "Hey, now, I'm perfectly threatening. Get down from there." 

"Mm. Adorably terrifying." 

\----- 

**Author's Note:**

> yes i'm obsessed with superhero AUs sorry i'll try to post chapter 2 soon :) twitter: jenndamianos tumblr: connerkentings


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